The Enigma That Is
by Skendo
Summary: He is an enigma. As well as trying to survive the 'end of the world', the group spend time attempting to decipher one of their own. Alex Rider. Snippets of moments with Alex and the group of survivors.
1. Chapter 1

**The Enigma That Is**

 _An Alex Rider and The Walking Dead crossover_

He is an enigma. As well as trying to survive the 'end of the world', the group spend time attempting to decipher one of their own. Alex Rider.

Snippets of moments with Alex and the Gang.

 ** _I do not own Alex Rider or The Walking Dead, those rights belong to Anthony Horowitz, AMC and the comic book creators Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore respectively. I make no money from this writing, I write this purely for my own enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others._**

Chapter 1

Silent footsteps tracked his prey through the dense woods. He paused as he saw his target lift its head. A stag. Hoof frozen in mid-step, the proud animal stared into the trees, stretching his neck this way and that to see where the danger lay. But he underestimated his predator, silent as a breeze across the sand, the footsteps resumed their chase.

Lifting the bow up and ready, the deadly weapon slid into position, pulled taut, the hunter steadied his aim. Too late, the stag's eyes snapped to attention as he caught sight of his stalker, and the arrow met its target. Startled, the stag tried to scramble away, but another quick arrow prevented the animal from covering much ground. As the stag lay crumbled to the soft woodland floor, he turned his head to keep the hunter in his sights. From the shadowed cover of the trees, out stepped a man. No, not a man, but a boy. He walked over and lay his hand upon the neck of the frightened animal. With a calming murmur of apologetic words, a swift movement of a knife ended the suffering of the once magnificent stag. The boy removed the arrows and set upon preparing and gutting the animal. Blood and guts tended to attract animals and walkers, so better out here than around the camp.

Once the messy job was over, he cleaned his weapons and rummaged through his bag. Pulling out some rope, he tied up the stag's hooves for easy handling. Sitting back on his haunches, he cast an eye around his surroundings. It's easy to forget that world has changed. That the dead walk again. The woods give off a false pretence of peace and security, until a walker stumbled into the clearing that is. With a sigh the boy stood up, brushing leaves off his legs off as he went. Twirling a knife through his fingers he meandered up to the walker, and smoothly slid the knife through its eye, side stepping the body as it fell to the ground. He turned away, wiping the knife on his top as he went. Before leaving the clearing, he bent down by the stag, grasping the knot around the hooves and heaved the massive weight over his shoulders and began the journey home.

* * *

Lori sat at the fire with Carol, with their careful eyes keeping tabs on their children. Carl and Sophia shared a strong friendship which came from surviving together during the 'awakening'.

She was relieved that Carl had found someone his own age to keep him grounded and to prevent him from growing up too quickly. Even though she was thankful for Shane, keeping them sane and safe under his wing after Rick's passing, she was worried that his interest was too invested in guns and violence.

"There's something out there!"

Her thoughts were broken as a shout pierced the quiet air. Everyone suddenly stood to attention as they waited to see what emerged.

"Carl, Sophia. Get over to the fire." She heard Carol call out. Her eyes followed the two children as they dutifully followed the command. She absently wondered where the other children were, but relaxed as she saw them standing behind Miranda.

"It's getting closer." Ed called out. Lori inwardly scoffed, as she noticed him move away into the centre of the camp away from the danger. She and Andrea had seen the bruises on Carol, it's pretty hard not to when camping in such close confines. Carol refused to talk about the marks on her body, so obviously left behind by Ed. Everyone saw the way he treated her, but had yet to see him actually lay a hand on her. It was almost a mutual decision by the girls in the group to watch over her, looking after their own.

"Well why don't you check it out then instead of running away, ya chicken?" Merle Dixon. Lori was under no illusions that Merle was a pleasant man, but she knew when to admit that both him and his younger brother Daryl, added extra protection and were skilled enough hunters to keep everyone's stomachs mostly full.

She pondered this as she saw Merle knock Daryl's feet from a cooler box, which his feet were resting on as he lounged in a deck chair. "Come on baby brother. We'll check out the big mean nasty in the woods." Merle drawled as he pushed at his brother's shoulder.

Daryl scowled, flapping away Merle's arms, he sighed and peered around into the trees through squinted eyes. "No need, there's no danger there." He shrugged. "Well, no walkers anyway."

Everyone relaxed minutely at that, and waited to see what emerged from the dense trees, when a familiar shaggy mop of dirty blond hair appeared at the treeline.

"Well, as much as I'm enjoying the welcome party. Anyone care to help me with this? Because it's rather bloody heavy." He huffed out through pants of exhaustion.

"ALEX!" Carl cried as he ran down to meet the boy in question, with Sophia following closely at his heels. "Woah, that's a big deer." He said peering down, eyes wide in wonder. "You caught it and brought it back here all by yourself?!"

"That is a stag, and he sure is going to fill our bellies tonight." Shane walked up from behind, ruffling Carl's head as he passed. He helped Alex haul the animal over to fire where the girls began to start preparing it for food. "But Carl's right, this is pretty impressive. We were starting to wonder where you had disappeared to."

"Yeah well, I wasn't planning on being out so long." Alex said sheepishly as he ran a hand through his hair. "But, I saw the tracks and couldn't come back, knowing he was out there. So, I just stayed out to find him. Took me 2 days straight before I caught a glimpse of him. Knackered now."

"Sure is a hellova find there boy." Merle proclaimed and he wandered over to inspect the kill. "Could have made the gutting a little cleaner though."

Alex shrugged. "Better than squirrels." He replied with a smirk before he headed to his tent and disappeared through the flaps.

Carl started after him, probably to pester him and bombard him with questions about his recent exploration, Lori thought. Stretching her hand out, she gently grasped him by the elbow and led him away. "Let's leave Alex alone for now, yeah? He hasn't stopped for 2 days, so probably needs a rest. You can call him out when tea is ready, OK?"

Carl sighed as he scowled at his mother. "Ok." He said reluctantly. Lori pushed him gently towards Sophia where Carol was setting up a game for the kids to play, as he trudged over to join them.

Lori started preparing all the cooking utensils and pots ready for the venison meal. "I don't know how he does it." Lori jumped at Carol's voice from her side. "Sorry, I made you jump." Carol said apologetically, her face twisted up in a nervous grimace.

"No no, I was lost in thought." Lori waved it off with a laugh. "Don't know how who does what?" As she reached for a knife and began cutting up a section on the meat.

"You mean Alex?" Lori looked around in surprise as Amy helped herself to a pot and started dumping the chopped up meat inside of it. She hadn't even noticed Amy arrive, her hunger distracting her.

"Yeah." Carol said. "He must be, what 17? 18? He's out here with no parents, but can hold his own against walkers and bring this back." She gestured at the stag between them.

Lori hummed as she mulled over Carol's words, she too had thoughts of the same nature. Movement in her peripheral vision saw a few of the others wandering over to help, who must have caught the tail end of the conversation.

"Not to mention, he's British." Andrea said.

"Well." Miranda pondered. "Didn't he say he was on holiday and got separated?"

"No, I said that may have happened. He never actually said anything about it. I didn't ask, figured it would have been too nosey." Andrea responded.

"Besides, he's only just began to open up a bit more. Well, to the kids anyway." Amy countered.

Carol nudged Lori with a smile. "Carl's really taken to him hasn't he? Sophia too, it's always 'Alex this and Alex that'. I think it's helped Alex settle here with us."

Lori laughed. "Yeah, I think he wished Alex was his brother." She paused for a second, staring at Carl as he chatted with the other children across the camp. "I'm just so thankful to Alex for finding him." She sniffed and looked up, feeling her eyes stinging with unshed tears. "If he hadn't brought him back. He hadn't of save him from that walker in Atlanta. I just-"

Carol reached over and wrapped the other woman in an awkward hug with the pots and pans between them. "But he did find him. He did save him, and Carl was brought back to you. You don't need to think about the 'what ifs' and 'maybes'. He's here. Safe and happy." She smiled, releasing Lori from the embrace.

Lori smiled back and nodded. "Thank you." She resumed her duties in preparing tea, peacefully listening to the chatter around her as she thought back to when she first met Alex Rider.

She remembered feeling lost and confused as she, Carl and Shane were stuck in the traffic jam on their way into Atlanta City. That's where they had met the Peletier's and Carl had struck up conversation with Sophia. She left Carl being watched over by Carol as Shane and Lori tried to figure out what to do. In the panic that followed the horrifying explosion, she set out to return to Carl. Over the terrified screams and cries of terror, she heard Carl's name be called by Carol. She soon as she saw Lori, Carol had ran over clutching Lori's forearms. "He's gone." She remembered Carol screaming. "He ran off after the explosion."

Lori had never felt a feeling like it. Like a buckets of cold and hot water dumped over her simultaneously, as her breaths began to quicken and her eye sight went blurry and tunnelled. Shane refused to let go of her, not wanting to lose her too.

During an agonising 30 minutes that felt like hours, she screamed his name, terrified that he had been trampled on by the hordes of panicked people after the bombing. Tears streamed her face and desperation clung to her like a second skin.

Suddenly Carol shouted out and pointed off the road a little way, where the crowed had seemingly parted to present Carl standing there, gripping the arm of another older boy. Lori surged forward with Shane shouting after her, with one destination in mind.

She reached her arms out and dragged Carl to her chest, promising in increasing hysterics that she would never let him go again. It wasn't until after, when they headed to find a safe place with their new group, that she realised the deathly grip that Carl still had on the boy's arm, who was shouldering Carl's backpack with his own. "Thank you. I don't know what you did, but thank you." She remembered wrapping her arms around him and whispering more thanks into his ear.

He had tensed up but had shrugged awkwardly and brushed it off with an "its fine. No worries."

After that, he stayed with them. There was never really a question of should he stay or not. He was a part of the group and did his bit with protecting the rest of them and bringing back just enough food to keep them going.

When the Dixon brothers joined, he started going out hunting with Daryl too, and learnt how to bring back more game and bigger meals. He kept himself to himself around the camp and stayed out of everyone's way, until the children, usually led by Carl, would seek him out to bombard him with questions and pestered him to join in with games until he usually gave in.

Lori's wondering mind was pulled back to the present, when she was aware of Carl tugging on her jacket. "Mom, is the food ready yet? Can I go get Alex now?"

She smiled and shook her head with fond exasperation after casting an eye over the cooking meat. "Give it another 20 minutes, then you can call him." Carl huffed and turned to walk back. "Not a second before, do you hear?" She called after him.

"Fine!" He reluctantly shouted over his shoulder as he trudged back to the other children.

Whatever Alex's story was, Lori thought as she turned back to the meal. It would be an interesting one, of that she was sure. She smiled to herself and tuned in to the conversation around her.

* * *

 _Hi, so I've just joined the rest of the world in watching The Walking Dead, and I pretty much love it! To my surprise I couldn't find an Alex Rider x The Walking Dead fanfic. So, here it is. The first of it's kind! I don't know if anyone will find this or even want to read this. But if you do, then I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it inspires some of you to write your own._

 _\- Skendo_


	2. Chapter 2

**The Enigma That Is**

 _An Alex Rider and The Walking Dead crossover_

He is an enigma. As well as trying to survive the 'end of the world', the group spend time attempting to decipher one of their own. Alex Rider.

Snippets of moments with Alex and the Gang.

 _ **I do not own Alex Rider or The Walking Dead, those rights belong to Anthony Horowitz, AMC and the comic book creators Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore respectively. I make no money from this writing, I write this purely for my own enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others.**_

* * *

Chapter 2

Daryl watched the boy from across the flames. He and Alex had returned that day from tracking a boar through the woods. They had spoken very little during the hunt, preferring the peace from the woods around them. He found himself watching the way the boy moved through the trees, it reminded him of a wild cat on the prowl, gracefully stalking its prey.

He tried to figure him out. To understand him. Not for sympathy, not for companionship, but for survival. To see if he was a threat, a loose cannon that would jeopardise the safety of the camp, or at least him and Merle.

Merle kept talking a big game plan of stealing from the camp in the dead of night, going off on their own, leaving the heavy load of the women, children and trigger happy idiots behind. But the more he pondered over it, the more he felt, dare he think it, attached to the damn camp. He just knew that if he left with his brother, he would be forever wondering what happened to the band of misfits. Not that he was going to mention any of this to Merle.

"Hey."

He looked up as the British boy sat next to him.

"Looked like you were deep in thought, so here's some food before this lot eat it all." Alex gestured to their camp mates, scattered around the fire chatting with each other. "Which I reckon isn't fair, seeing as you did help catch half of it."

Daryl scoffed as he accepted the plate. "Half?"

Alex shrugged. "Yeah well, you helped a bit." He smiled a crooked smile as he picked at his own plate.

Daryl chuckled and shook his head. Ok, so he would admit, the boy wasn't completely annoying to have around.

o0o

The next day, Alex found himself listening in as Lori has a school session with the kids. He never really has much interaction with children before, aside from his own schooling back home. Sure he had met kids and helped the odd few on missions, but never lived in such close quarters with them before. Well, apart from Point Blanc Academy, but Alex doesn't dwell on that…

So he didn't know how to feel, when he realised he had a slight fan club in the form of an energetic Carl and shy, yet curious Sophia. They would follow him around during the day when he was doing chores, eating dinner, helping with the laundry, cleaning his weapons – despite the nervous glances from the mothers, or creating games and trying to get him to join in, in passing time in their camp. Oddly enough though, he found that he didn't really mind. Although when trying to catch 40 winks, after a long hunt, only to be woken up in a cold sweat with his 'spy senses' tingling to children peering into his tent or arguing outside in hushed whispers, did get annoying sometimes.

Alex reckoned it started from when he first met Carl, when the young boy calling for his mother caught his attention in the chaos after the Atlanta bombing. Something called in his gut to help the young boy, only to find several walkers advancing towards the oblivious child. He remembered turning to the boy, after bringing swift executions to the zombie-like creatures, to find an awe-struck expression stuck upon his face, followed by an extremely tight grip from the small hand that latched onto his arm. After swinging the boy's forgotten backpack on to his shoulders, they set upon finding the boy's mother and friends

What followed was a sequence of flurried events that led to Alex finding himself being dragged after the group, with one arm slowly losing its circulation, as he and the boy were corralled by the mother. Alex ended up staying with the group because, well what else was there to do?

The group had been split to gather more supplies. Usually it was just Glenn, but the camp was running low on just about everything, so a team had been led into Atlanta on a run.

Daryl had been gone for two days tracking a large game, so everyone's stomachs were rumbling with anticipation. Shane and Dale were on watch, keeping an eye out for lonesome walkers looking for an easy meal.

"I wonder if they're ok." Carol looked up at Sophia's voice. The kids were seated around a table working through some math questions. After all education can't be forgotten about, just because the world's ended.

"I'm sure they will be. Glenn's been there millions of times. He knows what he's doing." Carl said with earnest. "Right Alex?"

Carol smiled, all the adults had noticed the way the kids had latched onto the older boy. Especially Carl.

"Erm, what?" Alex questioned, caught off guard, He was sat away from them, but angled towards the table. He had found his own piece of paper, and had been doodling on it, seemingly lost in his own world.

"Whatcha doing?" Carl asked, twisting his head around to see Alex's paper. Apparently forgetting his previous question.

"Oh nothing." Alex said hastily covering his paper and began scrunching it into a small ball.

"No! Wait!" Sophia cried, with her hand stretched out towards the fore mentioned drawing. She quickly looked around to her tent where her father was snoozing, and quickly retracted her hand. "I only meant." She started again but quieter. "Please let us see it. We won't laugh, even if it isn't very good."

Alex hesitated and looked at Sophia speculatively for a moment. His eyebrows knitted together for a second and he cast his eyes over to Carol for a second, who quickly looked away pretending she hadn't been eavesdropping at the proceedings. But she too couldn't resist checking in the direction of her tent where she knew her husband lay. Looking back towards the kids, she accidently caught Alex's eyes that still held slight suspicion. Carol could almost see the cogs turning in his head, as he put together the evidence in his head of all the public interactions of Ed, Carol and Sophia, and the well-practiced art in trying to cover bruises. She shook her head minutely and begged him with pleading eyes not to say anything. He narrowed his eyes, but nodded his head once and Carol drew a breath of relief.

Alex turned back to the kids with a new, mischievous gleam in his eye that was rarely seen, and pulled the crumpled paper from his pocket. "Ok. You must promise not to laugh at my pitiful excuse for a drawing." He stated seriously.

With a glance at the eager nods and being met with a chorus of "We promise", he lay the paper on the table and smoothed it over.

He was met with silence, as the children tried to decipher what Alex had drawn. Carol smothered a laugh at the pouting face of the usually expressionless boy, but she saw a twitch at his lip as he tried to hold back his laughter. He noticed her looking between him and his drawing and shrugged. "Hey, I said it wasn't very good!"

She laughed out loud and shook her head. "I never said anything." Carol said with a smile. She noticed some of the others walk over and sit in the vacant chairs around the table.

"What's going on?" Asked Andrea, looking around trying to find the source of the amused look on Carol and Alex's faces.

"Well, Alex drew a picture and I don't know what it is." Sophia began to explain. She spun the paper round to face Andrea and Amy who stood by her sister's side. "I think that's a tree, and that's the sky. But I don't know what that is." She said, tilting her head this way and that.

Alex mock huffed and crossed his arms across his chest. "Well obviously that is a person kicking a football."

Sophia took the paper from Andrea and peered at the drawing again. "Oh, yeah. I see it now." She smiled at Alex and handed it back. "It's really good, honest." She said with mothering expression.

"Ha, thank you very much." Alex chuckled as he accepted the paper. "Very convincing."

The little girl had a sheepish expression upon her face, as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Who is it?" Carl interrupted.

Alex froze and began to fold the paper. He pushed his chair out and started to stand up. "Erm no one, just a drawing."

"Doesn't he have a name? The other boy playing football? Because that one has yellow hair which is you, right? So who is the other boy with black hair? What's his name?" Carl shouted the questions, as the other boy began to walk away.

"Carl." Lori chided as she arrived unnoticed, behind Carl. "If he doesn't want to talk then don't push him." She said, placing her hands on his shoulders from behind.

"But Mom, he doesn't say anything." He said looking at her, then pointing his stare to the older boy's back. He raised his voice. "He never says anything about himself. You know he has a gun?" He redirected his words to his mother. "He sleeps with it under his pillow with a dagger. He thinks I don't know but me and Sophia went looking for him once and saw them in there!"

Lori's grip tightened momentarily at her son's words, but spun him around with her eyes flashing. "Listen to me Carl, some people go through things in their life that leave them hurt and lost. We don't know what Alex's story is, and maybe we never will. But he is our friend and you never force a friend into a situation they don't want to be in. Don't you ever go in his tent or through his things again." She shook him slightly from where her hands were still on his shoulders. Glancing at Sophia, she carried on. "That goes for both of you. Do you hear?"

Sophia was sniffing and hid her face into her mother's side, who gently prised her out. "Sophia, did you hear what Lori said?" Carol asked.

"Yeah, I'm really really sorry Mom. Sorry Lori." She said.

Lori sighed and let go of Carl. "Now, I want you to apologise to Alex when he comes out of his tent. Ok?"

"Yeah, I will. Do you think he hates me now?" He asked, looking up at his mother who shook her head in response.

"No, I don't. But just give him space. Now go and finish your math questions. Food will be ready in a few hours." She turned and walked away, hearing Carol following her.

"Did you know he had a gun?" She asked Carol quietly.

"Yeah, saw it once when he came back from a hunt. It fell out his belt in front of me when he was carrying rabbits. He didn't hide it, just tucked it back in and kept going. Figured he was safer with it, what with being out there hunting alone, so didn't question it. You?"

Lori nodded. "Shane told me. Apparently Alex told him when we first made camp here, I think Shane was impressed by his honesty so let him keep it. That and Alex said it plays up sometimes and doesn't always work, for some reason." She shrugged. "Sorry we didn't tell you, but we didn't want to cause everyone else to want one too. Hopefully know no one else will want a gun after this, thanks to Carl I think everyone knows."

Carol smiled. "That's fine, it's the same reason I didn't tell you."

They were quiet for a moment then both laughed, walking away arm in arm to start on the laundry.

o0o

Later on, when everyone was tucking into a hearty meal, curtesy of Daryl. A shadowed figure made his way into the heart of the camp where plates of food were being devoured. He hesitated just outside of the human circle, then made his way in, accepting a plate as he went. Alex took a place between Carl and Sophia who automatically shifted over upon seeing him.

Several minutes later, Alex drew the paper from his pocket and smoothed it out over his leg.

"Tom." He said quietly, absently noticing how the buzz of conversation around him lessened and people took note of his voice and actions. His young audience stopped eating to listen to him.

Alex cleared his throat. "Tom Harris, my best friend back home. In the drawing we're playing footie in our school field at Brookland High."

Carl gently took the drawing and stared at it in a fresh light. "Did you play football a lot?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yeah." Alex smiled. "We both love it. Used to play it every second we could."

"Used to? Do you mean before the walkers happened?" Sophia piped up.

"Sort of, things changed, happened, a few years ago. Tom and I still played but just not as much." Alex said as he started to pick at his food. "Too busy for one." He muttered under his breath.

"Oh." Sophia resumed eating as Carl looked at Alex.

"Erm, Alex? About earlier, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you, and we shouldn't have looked through your stuff." He said honestly.

"Yeah." A muffled sounding Sophia took Alex's attention, as she nodded her head frantically, and gulped her food down in one. "I'm sorry too Alex, really sorry."

He smiled. "It's fine, honest. I shouldn't have had a hissy fit and walked off like that. I just clam up sometimes, so I'm sorry too." He resumed his eating and the conversation around them started up again.

Lori and Carol caught each other's eyes from across their group and rolled their eyes and smiled at the antics of their loved ones.

* * *

 _Hi, hope you are all enjoying this story. You guys may want to check out another Alex Rider x The Walking Dead story on this site called 'A Comedy of Errors by crazywords'._

 _I know I'm not exactly fantastic at writing, but I have been enjoying writing this fanfic and sharing it, so thanks for reading it and I hope continue to do so!_

 _-Skendo_


	3. Chapter 3

**The Enigma That Is**

 _An Alex Rider and The Walking Dead crossover_

He is an enigma. As well as trying to survive the 'end of the world', the group spend time attempting to decipher one of their own. Alex Rider.

Snippets of moments with Alex and the Gang.

 _ **I do not own Alex Rider or The Walking Dead, those rights belong to Anthony Horowitz, AMC, Fox and the comic book creators Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore respectively. I make no money from this writing, I write this purely for my own enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others.**_

* * *

Chapter 3

There was a flurry of movement across the camp, as preparations were put in place for the second expedition into Atlanta. This time for guns and Merle.

There had been mixed emotions the day before, when the tell-tale noise of a car alarm has Glenn and the others, come hurtling into camp. Alex had watched as there were tearful hugs between families and a surprising reunion between Lori, Carl and the new sheriff in town.

Daryl was sitting at the rear of the truck cleaning his weapons, a scowl etched upon his face. His squinted gaze, directing the heated glare bouncing between Rick and T-Dog, who kept glancing back nervously to the pristine weapons in Daryl's hands.

Alex sighed and trudged over to Rick.

"Are you sure you don't want me there as back up? I _can_ help."

Rick shook his head and laid his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I need you here. Lori tells me you're pretty handy with a knife and gun. You can help Shane keeping watch and protecting the camp whilst we're gone. Please?" He looked down at Alex, pleading with his eyes.

Alex pulled away and nodded as he accepted his fate at being left behind.

"Hey Kid."

Alex looked up at the voice but couldn't see anyone, figuring someone was calling for one of the younger kids, he ignored it and started walking towards Daryl.

"Alex! Up here."

He looked up towards the RV where he could see Dale's smiling face from the roof.

"Come on up, and keep an old man company." Dale grinned and disappeared from view before Alex could decline his offer.

Alex scowled as he moodily shuffled forwards, towards the ladder that led to the RV roof. "Pretty sure you're not _that_ old." He mumbled under his breath.

o0o

Dale smiled as he saw the mop of dirty blond hair appear at the top of the ladder. He had seen how Alex was curious about the runs Glenn had taken into Atlanta, and how he had expressed an interest in joining the latest venture into the city with the large group, only to be shot down by Shane each time. He figured that Alex would want to go on the rescue mission for Merle and the Guns. But Rick, like Shane, wouldn't want to be worrying about the young boy out there, regardless of his obvious talent for handing weapons.

Dale turned his attention to Alex, who by now had sat himself cross-legged next to Dale's deck chair with a disgruntled expression etched on to his face.

"You keep pulling those faces, it'll stick that way son." Dale said light heartedly.

Alex stretched his legs out and grimaced as he heard a pop, he shook his head. "You wouldn't be the first to say that to me."

His curiosity peaked, Dale asked, "Oh, yeah? Who was the first?"

Alex smiled and chuckled under his breath. "A friend of mine. She always said that 'one day the wind will change and your face will stick that way Alex'." He had a light smile upon his face and was obviously remembering some distant memory.

"Sounds like something a Mom would say." Dale observed.

Alex lost his smile and shrugged. "Jack was more of an older sister, or favourite Aunt rather than a Mum. She was too carefree and fun to be a parent." He shook his head. "No, she was our house keeper."

Dale hummed in response and nodded as they kept their eyes on the activity of the camp under and around them, ignoring the curious eyes from several fellow camp mates. Dale was very much aware of how closed off Alex usually was, so he was happily surprised to hear Alex revealing some information about his past.

"Are your parents away a lot then? Enough to have a house keeper anyway?" Dale couldn't help asking.

Alex hesitated a little and cast his eyes over Dale before settling back down, resuming his gaze over Rick discussing tac-tics with Glenn. "My Uncle." Alex corrected slowly. "Ian worked away, a lot. He hired Jack when I was young, about 7 years old maybe. She looked after me and the house and just became part of the furniture." He paused. "The family."

He sighed and started fiddling with a patch of moss, which had begun its growth among the dirt in the roof. Dale stayed silent, letting him gather his thoughts.

"My parents died when I was a baby." Alex began. "My Dad's brother Ian took me in and cared for me, but he had a really busy job so Jack arrived one day, made us this weird foreign food and the three of us just gelled straight away. It was if she had always been with us." Alex grinned and looked up into the distant clouds in the sky. "She was a wacky, funny, smart mouthed, red headed American with a quick temper. She was brilliant."

They stayed silent for a while, both mulling over their own thoughts as they basked in the sun and the silence around them, up on the roof. Just below them, the daily jobs were being completed accompanied by a chatter, in an attempt to cover the tense feeling that was smothering the camp in the wake of _the Atlanta Incident,_ which had left Merle handcuffed to a pipe in a walker infested Atlanta.

Alex shook his head as if to clear away bad thoughts and stood up abruptly, dusting his legs off as he walked over to the ladder. "Thanks for the chat, but I want to talk to Daryl before the guys leave."

Dale nodded as he watched the boy go. He tried not to feel too disheartened that Alex had left their impromptu heart-to-heart session. "Hey Alex." He called out to the British lad who was nearing the top of the ladder.

Alex stopped and cocked his head to the side.

"Anytime you want to chat, listen or just sunbath. Just remember this old man sitting up here on his own. Ok?" Dale said.

Alex turned his head and a smile ghosted his lips.

"Cheers." Dale heard softly, before the boy turned and quickly disappeared from view as he descended the ladder.

Dale sat back in his lounger with his own smile upon his face. He felt like he had accomplished something there with Alex and connected a little. But if anything was certain, it was now more than ever, he felt that Alex had one hell of a back story. The way he was speaking, the expressions in his eyes and on his face, strengthened the belief that something had happened before the re-awakening of the walkers. Something that had found this young mysterious British boy in America, on his own during a zombie apocalypse.

* * *

 _Hello! So here is a Christmas upload, although this chapter has nothing to do with the festive season! I have finally caught up with The Walking Dead on TV, so there will be no more spoilers for me to stumble across. There is still only two AR x TWD crossovers (including this one!) so if any of you feel the inspiration to add to the, currently limited collection, then I shall look forward to reading them! Please excuse any typos and grammar mistakes in this chapter, I have checked it several times, but there is always one or two that manages to sneak in. This chapter is shorter than the others, but I wanted to get something out to you whilst I had the motivation to do so._

 _Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a wonderful new year!_

 _-Skendo_


	4. Chapter 4

**The Enigma That Is**

 _An Alex Rider and The Walking Dead crossover_

He is an enigma. As well as trying to survive the 'end of the world', the group spend time attempting to decipher one of their own. Alex Rider.

Snippets of moments with Alex and the Gang.

 _ **I do not own Alex Rider or The Walking Dead, those rights belong to Anthony Horowitz, AMC, Fox and the comic book creators Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore respectively. I make no money from this writing, I write this purely for my own enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others.**_

* * *

Chapter 4

All he had wanted to do since waking up in that God awful hospital, was to find his wife and son. The pure unadulterated joy he felt upon reuniting with them, was nothing to the sheer terror he felt when entering the camp last night to the screams and gunshots, with the morbid chorus of groans from the walking dead.

The instinct of protector and leader had kicked in as Daryl, T-Dog and Glenn joined him in tearing up the ground, guns blazing to save their friends and camp mates.

Eventually they ended up victorious, but not without their losses.

Rick stopped and stood up from where he had been lugging the walker's bodies over to an ever growing pile. He raised his hand and pinched the top of his nose with a sigh, letting the hot Georgia sun beat down through his eye lids, he reluctantly cast his mind back to the events of last night and the friends they had lost. Even though he hadn't known these people for very long, he felt this protectiveness overcome him to look after this family of survivors that Lori, Carl and Shane had found for themselves.

His hand moved to rub his eyes in an attempt to brush away the tiredness and melancholic thoughts. He lowered his hand and felt the walkie-talkie he had pinned to his belt brush against it. Morgan sprung to the forefront of his mind. He hope he and Duane were surviving out there and receiving Ricks signal. He had attempted to reach Morgan a couple of times to update the father and son as to his whereabouts and company. Rick found himself regularly using the walkie as almost a diary, talking into the empty abyss of the device, it was a small comfort in this new unknown world.

As Rick squinted against the shock of the sun, his gaze landed on Andrea clutching the body of her sister. He walked over to Daryl who taking a quick break from clean up.

"How is she?" He asked, gesturing over to Andrea with a nod of his head.

Daryl just shrugged and grunted in reply whilst returning to smashing in the heads of the deceased with a pick axe.

"Amy hasn't moved yet." Rick turned to see T-Dog standing next to him with his face twisted up in disgust at Daryl's actions. "Man." He murmured under his breath with a shake of his head. "We're keeping an eye out for when she wakes up though." He continued, patting the knife holstered to his hip.

"Ok." Rick nodded. T-Dog moved away to help Glenn drag the bodies to the separate burial sites. Rick had already tried to talk to Andrea, but received a gun to his face for his efforts. It seemed like the entire camp was walking on egg shells around Andrea and the lifeless body of her sister, waiting for the inevitable reawakening of Amy, or the breakdown of Andrea who hadn't moved since Amy died in her arms.

He heard footsteps approach and stop beside him.

"She just needs time Rick." Dale said quietly.

Daryl scoffed from nearby. "Wait much longer, she's gonna get bit, then we're gonna have to put her down too." He grumbled as he passed, the bloody pick axe hanging over one shoulder, with a gloop of red _something_ clinging to it, swinging with the momentum of Daryl's walking pace.

Rick and Dale watched him toss the axe to the ground, the tip embedded into the well-trodden dirt with the force of the throw, and sit next to Alex who was perched on the water cooler, eyes glued to the crimson trail of blood seeping into the ground from a walkers head wound. Glenn and T-Dog walked over to collect the body, both grunting and puffing with the weight of it as they heaved the walker up, leaving a pool of red in its wake.

"Ignore him Rick." Rick's attention was torn away from the sight, back to Dale who patted his shoulder and continued warmly. "Daryl's still torn up about Merle, and twitchy about Jim."

Rick nodded. "Yeah I know." He looked at Jim, who was sat away from the camp, the blood on his shirt showing the fatal bite wound. "How is everyone? The kids? I know Carl's a little shook up, he was glued to Lori this morning, until he saw Alex, then acted all macho."

Dale huffed a laugh. "Or at least as macho as a 12 year old can be." He said with a grin.

Rick smiled in return and conceded with a nod.

"Oh they'll be fine." Dale continued in response to Rick's question. "We've got a tough bunch here. Although Sophia's a little quiet which isn't surprising after her father's passing. She's with Lori at the moment, Carol's seeing to Ed's body." He looked up to see Rick about to interrupt. Dale shook his head, guessing at what Rick was about to argue. "It's something she needs to do. Leave her to it." Rick sighed and reluctantly nodded, Lori had confided in him the other night, she told him of the camp's suspicions as to Ed's abusive behaviour towards his wife and daughter. Rick was ready to storm their tent, to take actions against Ed, but Lori begged him to leave it. Carol didn't want the fuss, to risk making things worse, and she and Sophia were protected to a degree under the careful watch of the close confines of the camp.

"Having said that, you didn't see Alex." Dale pondered out loud. Rick turned his inquisitive gaze towards Dale. "Last night, when we were attacked." Dale hurriedly amended.

"What do you mean?" Rick asked with a frown.

Dale sighed and looked towards Alex from his peripheral vision, he discreetly shooed Rick away from where Daryl and Alex were still sitting, discussing something and passing a water bottle between themselves. "I don't know how to describe it." He paused, searching for the right words. "He changed. The way he acted, moved, fought, it was like he was on auto pilot."

Across from him Rick shifted his stance and crossed his arms, his eyebrows scrunched up in a frown as he took in Dale's words.

"He took out the walkers with anything he got his hands on. Well I mean, we all did to a degree, I guess, but he did it almost professionally. Of course I was otherwise engaged what with the walkers, but later on I noticed him with a gun, and my god Rick. He just took them out! One right after another! If he hadn't been here I don't know how many people we would have lost, but it would have definitely been more. He saved my bacon once or twice for sure." Dale finished with a gasp of air, as if he had been so engrossed in describing the events of the previous night, he had forgotten to take a breath.

Rick thought back to last night and now in the cold light of day, he realised that there was a heap of walkers in a semicircle around the RV with clumps to the left and right that he, Glenn, Daryl and T-Dog hadn't been responsible for. He had just assumed Shane, Morales, and Andrea had protected the group with the few weapons they had in their arsenal.

"Don't get me wrong." Dale added. "Most of us took a walker or two down, especially Shane, but Alex, well he was something else." He finished.

Rick pondered Dale's words, whilst it was true that the young British boy had seen some luck with bringing food into camp, whether it was from hunting or scavenging, Rick realised that he, and maybe most of the others, still considered Alex as _one of the kids_.

"Hey Rick!" Shane's shout from across the camp, pulled his attention from his thoughts for a second. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Rick nodded "Yeah." He called back, gesturing for him to wait a moment. He turned back to Dale and placed a hand on the older man's shoulder. "Look, I'll talk to Alex. See how he is, see if we can unravel this mystery a little more."

Dale sighed a nodded, "We talked a few days ago, and he opened up a little about his family and life. Let me tell you Rick, that boy has been through some hell from the sound of it."

"Like what?" Rick enquired with a frown.

Dale shook his head. "Nah, it not my place to say. I can't betray his trust."

Rick nodded and smiled apologetically, holding his hands in a peace like gesture. "Sorry sorry, I shouldn't have asked." He paused and glanced over to the boy in question for a moment. Focusing back at Dale, he looked him directly in the eye, and hesitated before speaking again. "He _is_ safe though, right? You don't think he's a danger to the kids, to the camp?" He saw a look of shock pass Dale's face, and hurried on, "I don't want to believe he is! I just want to make sure." He sighed and shook his head. "In my line of work you see different sides to people, you learn never to under-estimate anyone."

Dale smiled begrudgingly. "I think he's just a boy with a past, who's looking to survive in this new world he's found for himself. I think he's looking to make friends Rick, not enemies."

Rick smiled in relief and nodded. "Good. That's good." He clapped Dale on the shoulder as he left, his next destination set for Shane.

o0o

It was later on that Rick found himself face to face with Alex. It was after Amy woke up, after Andrea had to pull the trigger to her little sister's head and after the funeral for the people they had lost, when Rick and Shane patrolled the perimeter of the camp. Shane was adamant Fort Benning was the solution, that it would provide safety, food and shelter. But Rick wasn't so sure, he didn't want to risk it. He thought the CDC was their best chance, but if he knew anything about his best friend, it was his stubbornness. Rick loved Shane, he really did. They had each other's backs every second of the day when they were partners on the force, and Rick could never repay Shane for what he did to keep Lori and Carl safe the past few months. But hearing Shane blame Rick for the number of fatalities the camp suffered was something else, it crossed a line that warned Rick that his friend had started to change.

"Look, I've gotta do what's best for my family." Rick said as he and Shane strode through the forest. "If it was your family, you'd feel differently."

Shane stopped dead behind Rick and scoffed. "What did you say to me? I kept them safe man." He snapped at Rick. "Looked out for them like they were my own."

Rick sighed and tried to calm him down. "I didn't mean it that way."

"Well how did you mean it?" Shane responded, getting into Rick's face. "Go on man, how did you mean it?"

"You're misinterpreting me man. You're just hearing it wrong." He attempted to get Shane to understand what he meant. "You know I can never repay that debt, ok?" He took a breath to continue talking when they were interrupted by a sound in the bushes nearby. The two men stood and drew their guns, after a glance, they separated to investigate.

Rick stalked through the forest, gun held ready in front of him. Keeping his eyes and ears peeled for sounds and movement which would point to danger, he wove a deadly dance through the trees when he heard a twig snap to his left. Reacting immediately, he span around and pulled the gun towards the offender. A squirrel sat in the line of fire, innocently nibbling on a nut, oblivious to its near miss. With a sigh Rick jammed his gun back into its holster and turned around, intending on trudging back to Shane to continue their patrol.

"Hi."

Rick almost jumped out of his skin, when a mop of dirty blonde hair popped into his vision.

"Alex?!" Rick gasped out, which he would claim to his dying day _was not_ a squeak. "What the hell are you doing out here?" He threw his arms out as if to demonstrate the forest around them. "How did you get out here? We didn't see you follow us!"

Alex scuffed his shoe against the undergrowth, with a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry." He shrugged, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "I was wandering around, doing a sweep and saw you having a fight with a squirrel."

"I wasn't-." Rick started to defend his actions against the rodent, when he saw the half hidden smirk on the boy's features. Rick dragged his hand down his face with an exasperated sigh followed by a quiet laugh. "I could've shot you. I could have-."

"I know, I know. My mate swore up and down that I lived to scare him, but my Uncle always said I'm naturally quiet." Alex responded with another shrug.

Rick smiled both at the information willingly given by the normally private lad, and the reminiscent expression which seemed to restore the youthful look on his face. "So, I was talking to Dale earlier about the attack last night, he said you took on your fair share of walkers. You ok?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just wanted to help where I could."

"Dale said you looked pretty handy with the gun. You used one before?" Rick asked.

Alex hesitated before answering, looking a little distracted as something caught his eye over Rick's shoulder. He frowned a little, taking a step forward, which manipulated Rick into stepping behind Alex. "Erm, yeah. I've had a bit of gun experience." Alex continued to peer into the trees with the strange look etched into his face.

"You ok?" Rick asked in concern. He followed Alex's gaze and saw Shane standing with Dale.

"Come on man." He heard Shane call through the trees. Rick lifted his hand to show he heard.

Alex started walking forward. "I'm fine. Look, we should head back."

Rick hummed in response as he stared at the back of Alex's head. Something had spooked him, Rick was sure of it. What caused it though was another thing, all Rick saw in the forest was Dale and Shane. Maybe Alex thought they were walkers at first, which would have explained the way he moved Rick around to protect his back.

He sighed as he followed Alex out of the forest, his mind once again flooding with thoughts, concerns and theories as to how best he could keep the group of survivors alive.

o0o

Rick stuck the last bit of tape to the car door and stood back to re-read the note and map he had left for Morgan.

~ MORGAN, GOING TO CDC. THIS AREA NOT SAFE. RICK ~

He'd radioed Morgan with the walkie, but once again received no response. A surprising turn of events saw Shane change his mind and persuade the group to go with Rick to the CDC. Everyone that is but Morales, his family and a couple of others, they were making the trip to Birmingham to try and find family and loved ones.

Dale was piloting the RV and Glenn navigating with Jim in the back with Jackie, his bite wound causing him pain and making him feverish, but Rick hoped he held out until they got to the CDC, to try and find a cure.

Lori, Carl, Carol and Sophia waited for Rick to get into their truck, with T-Dog and Andrea following behind in theirs. Daryl and Shane had opted to drive their own vehicles, offering to carry any spare supplies in the empty seats.

"You ready?" Alex asked from behind, his shadow covering the note left on the bright red door.

Rick turned and nodded. "Yeah, you want to ride with us?"

Alex shook his head. "It'll be a bit of a squeeze with me in there. I'm riding with Daryl, he already offered. Well-." Alex adjust his statement at Rick's raised eyebrow. "I offered the joys of my company and he just sorta grunted, so I'm taking that as a yes." He said brightly.

Rick laughed and shook his head as he watched him walk over to Daryl's passenger door. He looked over to Morales's truck and saluted a goodbye and received a worried smile and a nod of a head in response.

"Come on Dad!"

He took one last look at the space that the campers had called home for the past month, before moving towards his truck. Things can only get better, he thought optimistically. Hopefully. Maybe. He just groaned in defeat.

* * *

 _Well there you go. I've had this chapter half typed out for a while now, but I couldn't seem to finish it so apologies if it's not brilliant. As you can see, I've finished this chapter just before the ending of season one for a nice written conclusion. But I haven't forgotten about Jim, and the dramatic introduction of the CDC, don't worry._

 _You will probably have noticed that I have kept a few of the unnamed camp mates alive. I just wanted to show that Alex had made a difference by being in the camp. But I have had these people leave with Morales and his family, to keep our bunch of survivors the same and not to confuse anything._

 _Anyway, enjoy the chapter_

 _-Skendo_


	5. Chapter 5

**The Enigma That Is**

 _An Alex Rider and The Walking Dead crossover_

He is an enigma. As well as trying to survive the 'end of the world', the group spend time attempting to decipher one of their own. Alex Rider.

Snippets of moments with Alex and the Gang.

 _ **I do not own Alex Rider or The Walking Dead, those rights belong to Anthony Horowitz, AMC, Fox and the comic book creators Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore respectively. I make no money from this writing, I write this purely for my own enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others.**_

* * *

Chapter 5

Fear.

Desperation.

Failure.

That was the flurry of thoughts rushing through Dr Jenner's head as he processed the last few hours. The morning started the same way it had done for the past 194 days, only this morning an incident occurred. Something so trivial that in any other situation, the thought _'don't cry over spilt milk'_ would come to mind. The toll of sleepless nights, isolation, and pressure came to pass during a simple act of reaching for a beaker. He saw it happen in slow motion, his arm stretching out, knocking into the cylinder which spilt the corrosive liquid onto the specimen sample. Alarms blaring, he rushed into the decontamination chamber, watching in horror as his experiments burnt before his eyes. Later on, as he drank himself into a drunken stupor, rambling on to his diary log knowing full well no one was listening anymore, with the very sense of failure clinging to him like a second skin, he admitted defeat.

Now, the halls of the CDC were alive with chatter and laughter from its new residents. Despite breaking all the rules and knowing what would happen at the end it the countdown, he couldn't just leave them out there. He knew that when he met his end in several hours, he would be also relieving these strangers of having to live through hell. He could live with that. Or, you know, die.

o0o

Carol held a wistful echo of a smile on her face as she gazed around the room, Carl browsing the collections on the bookshelves and Sophia nose deep in the worn pages of a book she had found. She felt at peace, in the moment. The tension on the past week had been pulling everyone down, but Rick stayed true to his plans. As promised, the fabled CDC proved to be their safe haven. Secure, comfortable, with food and water – a home.

In her dreams, she felt the axe embedded in Ed's head, she saw the blood surrounding Amy, and she heard the screams of her friends being pulled apart by the walkers. Every morning, she clutched Sophia a little tighter, desperate to keep her safe. Sparing a thought for Jim, she wondered how he felt in his last few moments, for he would surely be dead by now. No one lasted very long once bitten or scratched.

Jim had asked to be left behind. He'd said his bones felt like glass, that the ride, which could have been his salvation, was killing him. Maybe he was at peace now, with his family. That's all Carol could hope for. The walkers were just shells of the people that once occupied their bodies, Dr Jenner has assured them of that.

However, for all his knowledge and scientific research, he had more or less admitted there was nothing he could do. What could one scientist do, which so many others could not? His colleagues had left, gone to be with their families, to survive. But why they had not returned, Carol could not understand. Surely this building was safer than their houses and evacuation points.

"Mom? Do you want to read this book? It's really good."

Carol looked at her daughter who met her Mother's gaze with such an earnest look of innocence that only a child could wear.

Carol smiled and nodded. "Sure sweetie, why don't you come on over and share this couch with me? Show me what you've learnt."

Receiving a blinding smile in return, Carol knew at that moment that she would do anything, _anything_ to keep her daughter safe in this world. Safe from the world that lay in outside the shutter doors, and away from the monsters who had stolen the lives of so many just and deserving people who she had grown to care for and call friends. She would grow stronger in strength and in character and step out of the shadow she had hidden behind for so many years.

o0o

Alex lay reclined on the bed, hands behind his head staring at the ceiling, listening to the gentle murmur of voices and activity around him in the building. The day had been a whirlwind of information and advances in their survival. Finding Dr Jenner and this building which had stood the test of the apocalypse of the walking dead, had proven Rick's decision to have been the right choice.

Subconsciously his mind drifted to the people he had inadvertently left behind back home in the UK. He hadn't meant to get stranded over here. Mrs Jones had called him into the offices one day, interrupting a serious game of footie between him and Tom.

 _The unique ringtone allocated for Royal and General filled the football pitch, causing Tom's face to scrunch up in disappointment and frustration._

" _So is the Star Wars ringtone because Jones reminds you of Darth Vader, or is that the theme music you picture with an evil, manipulative spy organisation?" Tom asked with a weak smile and a raised eyebrow, masking his annoyance at the bank's interference yet again in his friend's life._

 _Alex smirked. "She's just_ that _scary and her very presence fills me with doom." He replied in mock mysterious voice with a wry grin._

 _He answered the call with a curt, "Rider."_

 _A stoic female voice filled the line. "Mr Rider, your presence is requested at the Royal and General Bank immediately."_

 _Alex sighed, "When is it anything other than immediately. Why not 'at your leisure'?"_

 _He heard the empty dial tone in response._

 _After apologising to Tom and promising another match of footie upon his return, injuries dependant, he took off to the Bank to meet with the demanding force of MI6._

 _Within 24 hours he had been briefed, given equipment, gadgets and new ID, and found himself shipped off on his way to the USA. He had only been given time for a 10 minute call to the school to inform them of yet another sickness that would drag him away from his start to the new school year for his Sixth Form studies due to start in a couple of weeks._

 _He had been in America for 2 weeks before news of the first 'reanimation' had occurred. Shouts of miracles soon spiralled into screams of horror. He called in the madness which was occurring in the USA but the mission handler ordered him to monitor the situation but continue with the original mission brief. 9 days later his mission quickly changed from tracking an international underground drug lord to trying to figure out what the hell was happening when he lost all communications with MI6. Eventually, after 5 days of attempting contact, his efforts were paid off._

" _Hello? Erm, Smithers here. Blast this damned machine! I do hope you can hear me? Apologies for the bad signal chaps and ladies, I'm having to use an outdated system borrowed from the Bletchley days and have re-configured it to connect to some modern comms. If you can hear this, well there's not much you can do until I find a way to work a two-way communication system._

 _To sum things up, we were hit pretty hard here. We've lost a number of MI6 bases including the Royal and General. We are currently holed up an old WWII base with old tech, and what I was able to grab from R &G. I do hope you're alright my friends, we are able to track most of you, I hope you are yourselves and not … well, the walking deceased. I'm not able to do much for you all I'm afraid as we have no way to send help – there isn't any. Not yet anyway._

 _This is a recorded message that will circle every few days, in case you've lost, broken your comms, or trying to find a way to charge it. Remember you can use solar energy to charge it, using the portable charging ports I gave most of you before your missions. You just have to rewire it - oh, I don't know why I said that. You'd have to of figured that out before turning it on to listen to this message. Many of us are safe here with other agents, staff, directors and a lot of families of many MI6 staff, we tried to save as many of your families as possible. We are all working together with other Intelligence Divisions to try to figure this out._

 _Anyway, this is Smithers cutting this transmission. Look after yourselves and don't do anything reckless. Over and out."_

 _A several days after hearing that message, Alex found himself saving a young boy from some walkers and in the clutches of a mad woman who turned out to be a concerned Mother looking for her son, which led to the impromptu formation of 'Camp Survivors' as Alex had dubbed them in his head._

Alex jolted awake, never realising he had fallen asleep in the first place. The old CDC building groaned and grumbled as the pipes in the walls provided well deserved hot showers to the inhabitants. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Alex rubbed his eyes and reached for a glass of water sitting on the bedside table. Remembering that he forgot to pick up a book he had seen earlier in one of the lounges, he pulled himself up and walked to the door, grabbing a zip-up hoodie as he went, hooking it over his shoulders.

He walked into the lounge and froze in the doorway. He wasn't expecting the room to be occupied, but then he saw Shane moving to grab Lori in what seemed to be a fit of anger. Seeing the terrified look on Lori's face, Alex crossed the room without a second's hesitation to lock Shane's arms and twist in a move that made Shane let out a strangled shout. Alex turned his head to look at Lori whose face was frozen in a state of shock.

"You ok?" Alex asked.

Shane tried to wriggle out the painful hold that Alex effortlessly held him in.

"What the hell man? Get off me!"

Alex just pulled his hand back, knowing that it had the right effect when he heard Shane hiss air through his teeth in pain.

"Alex, you can let go." Lori breathed out in concern, whether for Shane's arm or Alex's sanity he didn't know. "He's not going to hurt me." Her eyes flickering wearily between Shane and Alex.

Alex scoffed. "Didn't look that way to me." He said in scorn. "Look, I don't know what's going on between you two." Seeing their alarmed faces, he shook his head. "Don't insult my intelligence by trying to deny it. The entire camp knows _something_. Hell, I'd be surprised if Rick hasn't picked up on…" He paused, "Well whatever _this_ is." Nodding his head between them both. Turning his attention back to Shane, he stared him in the eye. "But if you lay one hand on Lori or anyone in this camp, against their wishes. Just know I will come for you."

He let go of Shane and flexed his hands to release the cramp that had settled in from the tight grip from the altercation. About to spin round to walk out the room, his eyes caught sight of a strange look on Lori's face. Following her line of sight, he tilted his head down to see his sniper scar shining out, pride of place above his heart along with his collection of permanent memories of past missions with mad evil tyrants. Slowly adjusting his hoodie so it once again covered his bare torso underneath, he stalked out of the room, pausing once to grab the book that caused his appearance in the first place. Looking down at the front cover and scanning his eyes over the summary on the back, he hummed "Yep, this will do", and continued out the door, back to his room, leaving the estranged couple to their own devices, confident that his message had been received and understood.

* * *

 _Well, the writing bug hit and I couldn't stop typing! So, now you know how Alex ended up in America and what the current situation is with MI6. This will develop a little as the story progresses, so this isn't the last you've heard of Smithers._

 _I'm not sure how the schooling system works for you guys outside of the UK, but where Alex mentions Sixth Form, this is the end of High School for students who want to stay and do A-Levels instead of going to a college/Uni straight away. Sixth Form students are typically between 16 - 18 years old … food for thought …_

 _Thank you for all your lovely reviews, I think that's what helped my motivation to write, so thank you to you all._

 _As always, thanks for reading my story and giving it a chance._

 _\- Skendo_

 _* Edited 21/06/18_


	6. Chapter 6

**The Enigma That Is**

 _An Alex Rider and The Walking Dead crossover_

He is an enigma. As well as trying to survive the 'end of the world', the group spend time attempting to decipher one of their own. Alex Rider.

Snippets of moments with Alex and the Gang.

 _ **I do not own Alex Rider or The Walking Dead, those rights belong to Anthony Horowitz, AMC, Fox and the comic book creators Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore respectively. I make no money from this writing, I write this purely for my own enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others.**_

* * *

Chapter 6

Carl walked down the lit hallway on light feet, aware of his friends sleeping behind the closed doors. He woke this morning and felt content for the first time in ages. His Mom and Dad almost had smiles on their faces in their sleep, although his Dad was snoring which was _really annoying_. He remembered in the past, before the walkers happened, his Mom teasing his Dad saying he snored when he was drunk. Carl blamed the alcohol the adults consumed the night before, for the high spirits around the dinner table. He and Sophia kept giggling as the grown-ups became increasingly drunk as the night went on, until Carol – who hadn't drunk much – took them to bed.

"Carl."

He huffed. As much as he liked Sophia, and he really did, he sometimes found her to be a bit twitchy and clingy. Like a puppy that followed him around, which was admittedly nice sometimes, but occasionally he wanted space. Like now.

"Hey, Carl!" Sophia whispered loudly as she hurried behind him, trying to catch up. "Where are you going?"

Carl slowed his march to a more sedate pace and turned his shoulder a little to allow the conversation. "Just having a walk."

"Oh." Sophia muttered as she finally caught up and slowed to a walk alongside Carl. "I was getting a drink and saw your shadow go past the door." She paused. "Not gonna lie, I thought you were a walker at first." Her head tipped down, causing her hair to hide her face, but Carl saw the corner of an embarrassed smile.

He smirked and nodded in understanding. "Takes a little getting used to, doesn't it."

At the confused crinkle of her eyebrows, he elaborated. "The safety of the compound. The security of getting a drink during the night, without being escorted everywhere." He gestured to the glass of water which was held in her hand.

She nodded in understanding and smiled. "Yeah, I see what you mean." She responded quietly.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, and bumped her shoulder with his, a grin plastered to his face. She looked up and laughed at his dorky expression.

Together they quietly sniggered and joked as they continued their early morning walk down the dimly lit hallway. A few minutes later, seemingly in sync, they slowed to a halt in front of a door on the left, next to a flickering lamp.

They stood there in silence for a moment, each debating whether to broach a new conversation.

"Do you think he's awake?" Sophia whispered, more cautious now with the volume of her voice.

Carl shrugged and he stared at the door handle. "Don't know. He always seems to be the first awake."

"Yeah, but it's like you said. We can be more relaxed, we're safe now, so maybe he'll relax too." She said in earnest.

Carl hummed in response, still fixated on the handle. "Only one way to find out." He said, shooting a quick mischievous grin in her direction, whilst stretching his hand to grasp the door handle.

Quick as lightning, her hand snapped out and clamped down on his arm to stop him. "No!" She cried out.

"Shhhhh!" He hissed in her ear, waving his free arm madly in her direction for her to quieten.

They both froze, straining their ears to catch any sound of movement from the other side of the door, or any of the others down the gloomy hallway.

After a moment of silence, Carl relaxed his muscles marginally, and took advantage of Sophia's distraction and slack grip on his arm. He pushed down on the handle and the door opened smoothly without a noise. He glanced at Sophia and saw a look of horror on her face, which was looking at their joined hands still resting on the now redundant door handle, her eyes slid to the narrow gap the door now created. She recovered quickly and narrowed her eyes at Carl pulling her hand off his.

"What are you doing?" She hissed under her breath, narrowing her eyes at him.

He mentally shook off her anger, and mouthed _shhhh_ again.

She smacked his shoulder in annoyance. "Stop saying that." She whispered back, admittedly quieter than before.

He leaned close to her ear with a grin. "You need to live a little Soph." He pulled away to see her scowl. He cocked his eyebrow and maintained eye contact as he gently pushed the door open the rest of the way, brushing off the _stare of death_ given by one Ms. Peletier.

They both straightened up and stared into the darkness of the room. Curiosity got the better of Sophia as she followed Carl's step over the threshold.

She heard Carl fumbling around in his pockets, as she nervously looked over to where a lump in the darkness indicated a body in a deep sleep. Suddenly the room was filled with light as Carl proudly held a torch in his hands. Her eyes widened in alarm, watching for any signs of movement.

The room was fairly sparse. Alex took up one bed and the spare remained empty. His bags had been left packed and ready to grab at a moment's notice. _Paranoid much_ Sophia thought as she stepped carefully around the room, always keeping one eye on the lump on the bed. It was strange, she thought, as Alex usually woke up at the slightest noise. He must be really tired not to have heard them.

"Look at this." Carl's whisper bought her attention round to the far side of the room, she slowly tip-toed quietly over to where he was standing with an object in his hand. On closer inspection under the torch light, the mysterious object was a small black box with buttons positioned on either side, with a small bulb in the top corner.

"Is it a walkie talkie?" She asked.

At the shake of his head, she ventured another guess. "An MP3 player?"

He moved it around in his hands and inspected every inch of it, offering a shake of his head to Sophia. "I don't think so, but there is a headphone socket."

"Well, what do you think it is?" She asked looking up at Carl who just shrugged, still focused on the box. "Where did you find it?"

He nodded his head towards an opened backpack on the floor.

Sophia's mouth fell open in shock, "You went through his things!" She hissed loudly.

Carl had the decency to look a little abashed. "Remember how we found that gun that wouldn't fire-"

"-You mean when you dragged me into your scheming, and we promised our Mom's we wouldn't go snooping again?" Sophia interrupted.

Carl glared in response and continued talking. "Well, I saw him using the gun with the walkers outside the CDC. The one he said didn't work, AND I saw him talking into this device the other day." Carl waved the strange black box in front of Sophia's face. She scowled and shoved his hand away. "He was saying _Smithers_ , over and over. It was like he was waiting for a response, but then he got angry and threw it in there." He pointed to the abandoned backpack on the floor.

Sophia huffed and crossed her arms, careful not to crack her old drinking glass as she did so. "That's why you wanted to come here? To snoop around in Alex's room?"

"Well you're the one who followed me in!" Carl answered back.

"I'm leaving. This isn't right, he's our friend." She spun round and proceeded to quietly tread back to the doorway, illuminated by the hallway lighting. She heard Carl sigh and follow her footsteps.

As she was making the careful journey out of this dangerous territory, she mulled over in her mind how on earth they got away with their little expedition, and how lucky they were that Alex hadn't woken up to their whispers and mutterings. Back in camp, before the CDC compound, Alex was always the first awake at the slightest noise or movement. But recently he had been looking more tired and withdrawn – they all had. She had _accidently_ overheard, read – eavesdropped, on her Mom and Lori, talking about how they needed a win with how exhausted the camp was. Their conversation soon moved on to Alex, as it always seemed to, but Sophia put it down to the two women being 'Mother Hens'. They too had noticed his pale complexion and tired appearance, but they'd hoped the security of the CDC could start to allow him some relief and improve his health.

Just as she was a step from the doorway, her thoughts were interrupted by an obtrusively loud thud from behind and the air was filled with explicit cursing from Carl – of which he had undoubtedly picked up from Merle during their time in the old quarry.

"GOD-DAMN IT!" Carl continued to cry, as he hopped around the room clutching his sock ladened toe, which had presumably just stubbed the side of the wardrobe, the torch that was pressed against it from his hand, expelling light bouncing from all corners of the room as it rose and fell with each hop that Carl made.

What happened next was such a blur of speed, that Sophia was almost positive time was sped up. One second Alex was fast asleep in the corner of the room, wrapped up in blankets with one leg sprawled over the covers and the other hanging off the edge of the mattress. His left arm tucked under the pillow and the other stretched out in front of him. The next second he was stood behind Carl, like a silent predator with a wild, unfocused look in his eyes. His messed up bed head hair, and chequered pyjama bottoms doing nothing to relieve the image. The most terrifying part though, was the hand that was positioned under Carl's chin, which held a knife. A knife which was held to the vulnerable skin, the sharp edge glistening in the light from the flickering hallway lamp.

Everyone froze. Not a single muscle moved and no breath was taken.

Then, as if nothing had happened, Alex slowly slid away from Carl and dragged himself back into bed, rolling over so his back faced the shocked occupants of the room.

"What the-" Carl breathed as he stood stock still, still in shock as to what had just happened, the echo of the knife pressed against his neck left an imprint in his mind. He almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand grasp his arm and tug him out of the room. He watched Sophia carefully shut the door with barely a sound, and sigh quietly as she paused for a moment resting her forehead against the door. Taking a minute to collect her thoughts, she breathed heavily against the grains in the wood, watching as the condensation created by her breath faded from view.

"Are you ok?" She asked quietly without turning around.

"Erm." Carl stumbled over his words, and cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm good." He subconsciously dragged his hand over his neck. Coughing again, he nodded to almost reassure himself of his words. "I'm fine. Just a little confused and shocked I guess." He gave a nervous laugh and caught Sophia's eye, who had now turned around and was resting her back on the wall. "Just, ah, give me a second to slow my heart rate down."

She offered a small smile in return and gestured down the hall. "Let's go in the sitting area. Don't want to wake him up again."

Carl nodded and glanced to the closed door behind them. "Yeah, lets."

o0o

Once they had seated themselves in the comfy armchairs, Sophia broke the silence. "So what do you think happened in there?"

Carl scoffed. "I think we've figured out why Alex has his own tent. Why he's so secretive." He paused and ran a hand through his hair. "He's crazy! He's gotta be. I mean why else would he try to kill me and then go back to bed as if it's nothing?"

Sophia sat back and allowed Carl to let off some steam, it was only fair, she thought, seeing as he had just suffered a near death experience at the hand of their friend.

Carl huffed as he finished his tirade.

"I think he was asleep." Carl looked up at Sophia's explanation. "I don't think he knew where he was, who we were, or what has happening. But, for some reason he thought he was in danger, and luckily for us, realised who we were so his subconscious mind took him back to bed."

Carl sat, staring at Sophia with his mouth hanging open. "How did you think of all of that?"

She shrugged. "Come on, it's not the first time we've seen him do something odd and we've tried to guess what his story is." She sat back and tucked her legs underneath her. "But whatever happened to him in the past, whatever he's lived through before joining us, his brain made him move when it thought he was in danger. That must be why he's always up first in camp and why he's twitchy when he's tired."

Carl's eyes lit up. "Like a 'sleeping' sleeper agent!"

Sophia frowned. "A what?" Trying to follow his train of thought, but failing.

"In action movies and spy shows, where there are sleeper agents who are activated if someone needs taking out or someone else needs protecting. But he's asleep when it's triggered so he's a 'sleeping' sleeper agent."

"Right." She answered slowly and dubiously.

Carl huffed and slouched in his seat. "Well it's an idea."

Sophia dismissed him with a roll of her eyes. "Whatever."

They sat in silence for a few minutes whilst thoughts went rushing through their minds. The clock read 7.05am, and the compound would be bursting with activity soon, hangovers dependant. The two children decided to head back to their rooms and not mention anything to their parents. It's not as if Alex actually hurt them, so what's the harm, right?

o0o

If at the breakfast table, anyone noticed how Carl and Sophia sat together away from Alex, nobody mentioned it. They didn't mention how the kid's heads were squashed together as they traded theories as to the mysterious background of their friend.

Alex didn't think anything of it, he just assumed the kids were taking a break from following him around. He did find it strange though that the strand of hair he had stuck to the door frame as a security feature had moved, and how this morning when he woke up, his palm was bleeding from a small incision. He just assumed that he'd accidently caught his hand on the knife kept under his pillow, and maybe someone had popped their head in his room to see if he was awake this morning, and therefore disturbed the strand of hair.

He couldn't deny though that he felt well rested. Better than he had in ages, probably even since this whole _end of the world_ thing started. There was something welcoming about the hum of a sleeping building, knowing that his friends were safe behind closed doors, away from the horrors of the outside world, and _finally_ in a warm and comfy bed. Hell, he could have probably slept through an earthquake with how tired he was last night.

Alex rubbed at his eyes and sighed as he looked around the breakfast table. A little more sleep wouldn't hurt though, he had a lot to catch up on after all.

o0o

Of course things never go quite to plan when it came to Alex Rider. What was meant to be the start of a beautiful friendship with the CDC building and Dr Jenner, quickly turned into chaos.

Only a few short hours after he had sat down at the breakfast table that morning, the group found themselves one person short, homeless and running for the hills once again, after Jenner decided put the compound on shutdown, with an ominous countdown clock ticking away the moments until the building blew up, due to an experiment gone wrong. Something Dr Jenner failed to mention, as the gang settled down into their new digs the night before.

Sitting in the passenger seat of Daryl's truck, Alex mourned the loss of one of their own. Jacqui had decided to stay behind with Dr Jenner. She never really got over the loss of Jim, and she found it difficult to go on in this horrible new world without her family and loved ones. They tried, they really did try to persuade her to follow them out of the doomed building, but she stayed put. One more person lost to this ridiculous new world they all found themselves in.

Alex squinted as he looked up at the bright sun above, he just hoped the group would catch a break soon. They deserved it after everything they'd been through.

* * *

 _Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. They all mean a lot to me, but I wanted to do a special shout out to_ _oasishomes. Your review really kick started the writing buzz! So thank you to you and to everyone who left reviews._

 _So this chapter is really Carl and Sophia centric. Remember that they are only 12 years old, and as we know Carl can be a little compulsive with things so try not to get too annoyed with him_

 _I'm trying not to repeat things that are canon so I don't bore you, so as you can see the story has moved out of the CDC now, and soon on to Greene pastures – see what I did there?_

 _Anyway, as always, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and thanks for sticking with it!_

 _\- Skendo_


	7. Chapter 7

**The Enigma That Is**

 _An Alex Rider and The Walking Dead crossover_

He is an enigma. As well as trying to survive the 'end of the world', the group spend time attempting to decipher one of their own. Alex Rider.

Snippets of moments with Alex and the Gang.

 _ **I do not own Alex Rider or The Walking Dead, those rights belong to Anthony Horowitz, AMC, Fox and the comic book creators Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore respectively. I make no money from this writing, I write this purely for my own enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others.**_

* * *

Chapter 7

There's something hauntingly terrifying about trying your damnedest to quieten your breathing when hiding from the enemy. Of course, Alex had been putting this into practice for a few years now, just not with a horde of the moaning dead - he was more use to an arch nemesis master criminal, plotting world domination type of thing. Alex would usually welcome a change to the usual mission brief, but this was a bit of a stretch, he just hoped and prayed that the others had spotted the mass crowd of the dead early enough. It would have been suicide to try and fight.

o0o

 _Several moments earlier …_

Dale looked around in dismay as the group started to rummage through the vehicles around them, his trusty RV which had taken him on many a fine journey in the past, had broken down. Of course, it picked the right moment to do so though, on a road where cars stood, abandoned as their owners fled for their lives, stretching along as far as the eye could see, ready for pilfering.

Dale tinkered around with the broken area, preparing it for a new radiator. That is, if they find a suitable replacement.

"Hey."

Dale tried to mask his jerk of surprise as a soft voice startled him from behind his shoulder. A small smile on the perpetrator's mouth proved he failed in covering his shock. "Alex! Didn't see you there. What can I do for you?"

Alex shrugged and looked around, his eyes constantly flickering this way and that, alert and ready as always.

"Well, that's what I was going to ask you, anything I can help with?" He asked.

Dale shook his head. "Unless you know how to fix this." He gestured to the broken down RV. "I think it's a matter of searching the cars like the other guys are."

Alex nodded, squinting as the hot sun bore down on them. "Figured as much." He said, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. "Thought I'd ask anyway."

Dale threw a smile his way as he turned back to the RV. "Gotten use to the heat yet? Bet it's a bit warmer here than England. Am I right?"

Alex huffed a laugh. "Just a bit! I think if Britain had this weather, everyone would be in a meltdown. Literally. It would be sun-mageddon! Same thing if it snows, even a little. Panic ensues from one little snowflake and supermarket shelves are wiped clean in case of a snow-in!" Alex chuckled to himself, Dale joined in as he pictured the image in his mind.

"Not you then?" Dale teased.

"Nah I'm tougher than I look. I've travelled to enough places by now to acclimatise quicker than most to the weather." He paused. "Not that I'm _not_ currently sweating buckets right now." He wafted his t-shirt to emphasise his point.

Dale hummed in response whilst his thoughts latched onto something Alex had said. "Did you spend a lot of time in different countries? Before all this?" He asked feigning his blasé attitude to mask his interest.

Alex gave him a sharp, knowing look. Dale smiled and raised his hands in an innocent gesture.

After a pause, Alex allowed him an answer. "Yeah, I guess I did."

Dale felt a small stab of victory as he stayed silent and let the boy continue.

"My uncle took me everywhere on little holidays. Although I guess he wanted me exposed to different cultures, languages and experiences. Worked too. I picked up a few skill sets here and there."

With Dale's interest spiked, he was about to pursue the conversation more when they were interrupted by Glenn.

"Which one?"

Dale turned to glare at him who had appeared at his shoulder with a few different screwdrivers clutched in his grasp.

"The flathead." He said as he snatched it from the lad's hand in a rare state of annoyance. "Radiator hose clamp is always a flathead." He threw a glance to Glenn's lost expression and after a short consideration, returned the tool along with a rag to the confused man. "Here, you do it, learn something." Turning his attention back to Alex, he opened his mouth ready to speak when a sudden coughing and hissing of air came from Glenn and the broken radiator. Dale sighed and realised this probably wasn't the best moment to chat with Alex. He spoke up to regain the attention of the British boy. "We'll continue this conversation later." He ordered with narrowed eyes in a mock stern voice.

Alex smirked and gave a salute. "Anything you want me to do in the meantime?"

Dale waved towards the front of the RV and beyond. "Just search the cars like everyone else. You may want to go further up ahead, you're quicker than some of the others. Once we get this up and running," He smacked the side of the RV with his palm for emphasis as he spoke. "we'll not want to stop again, so go see if there's anything way out there. But for God sake, keep an eye out for walkers!"

Alex nodded and scarpered off, proving Dale right as the boy sped past the others who were meandering slowly from car to car. Dale marvelled as Alex slid over bonnets and twisted his way through the abandoned cars with slick precision.

Dale left his thoughts behind as he headed towards the back of the RV to stand by Rick, who wordlessly handed over the binoculars. Dale nodded in thanks and began his trek up the RV ladder to assist with lookout from the vantage point of the roof.

He stood as a silent watchman as his fellow survivors filtered through the cars for food, water, clothes and fuel. The whole world falls into disarray, and that's what it came down to. The few things essential for survival for the group, and probably the rest of the world. Well, those who survived the onslaught of the undead that is.

He heard clunking from inside the RV beneath his feet as Andrea, he assumed, worked on something. He was worried about her, if her behaviour in the CDC was any indication, he needed to keep an eye on her. As much as she was against the idea, he planned on keeping her around for as long as he was able. He had felt responsible for Amy and Andrea from the first moment he met them and took the sisters under his wing. Now Amy had been lost and in the most horrific way, none felt the pain more than Andrea, that much was obvious, but it didn't mean Dale didn't morn the young woman. He wouldn't fail Andrea, no matter how hard she tried to push him away.

Gleeful laughter tempted his attention over to Glenn and Shane who had found water. A lot of water. At last, some good news, he thought with a smile. He returned to his watch, casting his eyes over the stretch of cars that took up the highway. He froze. Something moved in the corner of his eye. He hoped it was a member of the group. Prayed in fact. The binoculars caught a solitary walker in its lens. Dale signalled down to Rick who lined it up through the scope of his gun, and that's when all hell broke loose.

o0o

Dale watched from the safety of the RV roof, as the walkers wove their way through the bodies and debris in the road, the knackered and battered shoes offering a chilling sight to the desperate souls hidden under the cars. He feared for the lives of his friends as they watched the feet scraping along, listening as the dead gurgled and grunted their way through the long stretch of cars on the otherwise silent road.

Not 10 minutes earlier, they had been happily scavenging through the cars for items of use, and now their lives depended on their silence and good fortune.

Dale could hear Andrea gasping for breath after her fight with the lone walker who found itself in the RV. He had ended up passing her the nearest thing he had that even remotely resembled a weapon, but it had worked. Armed with just a screwdriver and sheer adrenalin, Andrea had channelled all her grief, anger and terror into ending the walker's existence.

Just after Dale saw the last of the stragglers pass through where he knew his friends lay hidden, he saw two walkers which had previously gone unnoticed, swarm around a car and a muffled cry followed. In horror, he quickly descended the ladder and moved towards where the sound came from. He and Andrea came across a hysterical Carol in the arms of Lori.

"Lori! There's two walkers after my baby!"

Lori clung to Carol, in a desperate attempt to quiet her down and hold her back from charging into the woods. Dale knew that the herd could easily turn around if they caught a sound or smell in the breeze.

"What happened?" Dale asked urgently as Andrea moved to Carol's side, to try and soothe her anguish.

Carol just moaned in grief-stricken hysteria and shook her head, clutching Lori's arms as if to keep her anchored down.

Lori stepped in to explain. "Sophia was spooked. Two walkers somehow found her under the car, and she ran off into the woods."

Carol's crying grew louder. "My baby." She shook her head as the tears continued their path down her face. "My poor baby."

"I know." Lori rocked the older woman and calmed her as best she could. "Rick's with her, he'll find her. You'll see."

"Mom, she's gonna be alright, isn't she?" Carl asked in a quiet voice as he stood close to his mother who looked at him with tears in her eyes.

Shane gripped his shoulder. "Your Dad will bring her back. He knows what he's doing."

Carl looked up at Shane, trusting his word and returned to his vigil alongside Lori and Carol before once again speaking up. "Hey, where's Alex?"

Everyone looked up and around at the realisation that not everyone was accounted for.

"Daryl and T-dog too." Dale added.

The sounds of a scuffle alerted them to the presence of incoming movement. Shane lifted his gun and aimed it still towards the sound.

"Don't shoot." A gruff voice called out quietly. "We need help."

From around a car, Daryl appeared hauling T-dog who had a long smear of blood down one arm.

"He bit?" Shane asked sharply with narrowed eyes.

Daryl dragged the moaning T-dog closer. "Nah, the idiot sliced himself on a car door."

Dale saw the tension leave Shane's shoulders as he lowered the gun. He moved past the others and stepped closer to T-dog to see the extent of the damage. He let out a low whistle of incredulity. "You've sure done a number there."

T-dog laughed weakly. "Tell me about it." Daryl left him propped up against the RV and started to inspect his arm. "Am I gonna live Doc?"

Daryl grunted. "Better get that cleaned and wrapped up."

Dale stood up. "I've got an old first aid kit in the cab, I'll bring it out." He set off towards the van, hearing a quiet ' _thanks'_ in reply from the invalid.

o0o

A few minutes later saw a rudimentary bandage on T-dog's arm, with a ' _that will do'_ from Daryl.

Their small group formed a circle around Carol, still in the arms of Lori, as they waited for the lost members of their group to make an appearance.

Shane broke the silence as he looked around. "How far ahead did you say Alex went?" His question directed towards Dale, who shielded his eyes from the bright sun as he peered into the distance past the cars which littered the road.

"I'm not sure." He said slowly. "I lost sight of him a few minutes after he set off that way." He pointed up the road. "It was several minutes before the herd arrived, but he moves quick, so he'd of managed to get quite far away I'd wager." Shane nodded in agreement, Dale continued. "Also he would have been hit after we had, so assuming that he wasn't seen, he's probably just stayed hidden longer."

"So he should be back soon then?" Carl piped up from his place next to Lori.

"Yeah." Dale said reassuringly, "He'll be back soon."

Carl nodded a little despondently. Dale reasoned internally that the young boy had just found that his two friends were missing, at the same time, but in different scenarios. He hoped Rick had caught up with Sophia, and Alex would show his face soon.

In the corner of his eye, Dale saw Glenn sit up a little straighter and a grin graced his face. Dale shot him an inquisitive look causing Glenn to nod forward with his cap. Following his gaze, Dale breathed a sigh of relief.

There, stumbling down the road, Alex made his way back to the group, lugging something heavy behind him. He looked exhausted, bloody and fed up but happy to see his camp mates.

Carl turned around at the noise and shot to his feet. "ALEX!"

All the adults shushed him immediately, and a sheepish grin appeared on his face.

"Sorry." He murmured as he made his way to Alex, who had come to a standstill next to Glenn, who started to inspect the load Alex had returned with, as he flopped down on the ground with his filthy arm over his eyes to block out the setting sun.

"Are you ok?" Andrea asked worriedly as they approached him with a wary eye on all the blood and muck on Alex's clothes.

Alex moaned and pulled his arm off his face with an exaggerated move which signalled to the group how tired he actually looked. "I hate em'. Walkers. I hate em'."

Shane's eyebrows were pulled together as he raked his gaze over all the blood. "Is that your blood, or walkers?"

"You asking if I've been bitten?" At Shane's stare, Alex huffed and continued. "Walker blood. When they came across me, the only cars around me were low ones, so I had to pull some ninja moves. Worked for the most part but then a bunch on lone walkers at the end of the herd saw me and gave chase."

Carl gave a gasp, thoroughly taken in with the story. "How did you get away?"

Alex shrugged from where he still lay on the floor. "Killed them. Had to do it quietly mind you, or else the entire herd would have turned around. Mucky business." He finished as he started to take notice in the state of his clothes. Sitting up, about to try and clean his t-shirt he looked around. "Hey, where's the little'un? And Rick?"

Hearing Carol's sob and the silence of everyone else who shot the mother a worried look, he narrowed his eyes and heaved himself up. "Seriously, where are they?"

Suddenly fast footsteps were heard from the woods and everyone, bar T-Dog, stood to attention.

Rick emerged alone.

* * *

 **Hi guys,**

 **This one was a bit of a challenge, but I'm hoping I pulled it off.**

 **By the way, where Alex is talking about the reactions of Brits during 'extreme' weather … That actually happened! Snow-mageddon was treading for so long!**

 **I've edited the last chapter to change some of Alex's timeline after landing on American soil.**

 **Hope you all enjoy the chapter. Thanks for all the reviews!**

 **-Skendo**


	8. Chapter 8

**The Enigma That Is**

 _An Alex Rider and The Walking Dead crossover_

He is an enigma. As well as trying to survive the 'end of the world', the group spend time attempting to decipher one of their own. Alex Rider.

Snippets of moments with Alex and the Gang.

 _ **I do not own Alex Rider or The Walking Dead, those rights belong to Anthony Horowitz, AMC, Fox and the comic book creators Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore respectively. I make no money from this writing, I write this purely for my own enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others.**_

* * *

Chapter 8

So much had transpired in the last two days.

No one really had time to fully take in what had happened.

From one thing to another. They barely had the chance to eat and sleep, and if they got the opportunity, thoughts filled with sorrow and terror would take over their dreams.

Sophia. Her little Sophia, that's all she could think about. For her baby's entire life, Carol had protected her. From her abusive father, from the imaginary monsters hidden under her bed, to the real monsters that now walked the earth. Carol always looked out for her daughter, but now she couldn't. She couldn't hold her little girl tight to her chest and whisper that everything would be ok, she couldn't clasp her hands tightly around those smaller ones to reassure herself that they would live through this madness, and it was killing her.

She didn't know what to do.

Sure, she had Lori and Andrea who sat by her side when the pessimistic thoughts filled her head. But it wasn't enough, she needed her daughter back. She needed to know Sophia was safe.

Everyone was doing what they could to find her, search parties were being sent out left right and centre, but everyone had things going on in their own personal lives.

Carl had been shot the day the herd passed through the highway. A farmhand had mistakenly shot him when aiming for a stag. The owner of the farm was a veterinarian called Hershall, who patched Carl up as best he could. There was a funeral held for Otis yesterday, Carol thought the guilt of shooting Carl, had led to him leading Shane to the school for the medical supplies, which were urgently needed for Carl's survival. Otis lost his life whilst saving another, two if you count Shane who was saved by Otis's heroic act. It worked though, you could feel the tension lift from the camp's shoulders when they announced Carl would be alright, but the underlying stress was still there with Sophia's disappearance.

The Hershall family had allowed the group to stay on the land by the house. Jimmy decided to help with the search for Sophia, but Carol sensed Hershall wasn't keen on Beth's, his daughter, boyfriend's decision. She didn't think he wanted his family to get too close, especially so soon after Otis's passing. His daughters were kind and willing to help where they could, Glenn and Maggie had returned from their run into town for medical supplies with Glenn looking a bit sheepish upon their return. Carol smiled, at least someone was enjoying their new life here, so long as Hershall didn't suspect anything.

Carol was brought out of her musings as someone roughly brushed past the laundry she'd just finished hanging up.

"Alex!"

He turned to her, his stormy eyes catching the shirt which now lay on the floor.

"Sorry." He said guiltily as he hurriedly picked it up and pegged it back in place on the makeshift line.

Carol stopped him from turning away by gripping his arm. "That's not what I meant." She paused. "But thanks for hanging it up anyway." She said with a soft smile.

Alex nodded and made to turn away to continue his journey out into the forest.

"Alex," Carol repeated. "Please, just sit down. You haven't stopped. You've only been back about half an hour since you last went out." She gestured to the log nearby which people used as a seat.

He shook his head, his hair haphazardly waving around emphasising how dirty it actually was. "I _can't_ stop. We can't afford to waste a second."

Carol's eyes shone with gratitude as she pulled him down to take a seat next to her. "I know. Truly I know, but you haven't stopped. The last thing I want is for you to collapse out there on your own." She found his hand which was gripping the log tightly and grasped it in her own. "I can't thank you enough. I really can't, but you need food."

Alex's head shot up from where he was stormily staring at the floor. "I've just had food!"

Carol shook her head. "Real food. Not just the odd snack here and there."

Alex shot his gaze over to her angrily. "You don't need to mother me. I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."

Carol let go of his hand and stood up. "Yes well, someone needs to." She said stiffly.

Alex shot to his feet. "Says who? I've done perfectly well staying alive so far."

Carol sighed in exasperation. "I didn't mean it like that." She flung her arms in front of her as she paced a little way away from him. "I just think, we should all look out for each other, especially at the moment when so much is happening."

Alex stayed silent and Carol feared for a moment that he had slunk off during her tirade. She turned around. He had sat back down on the log with his head in his hands, breathing heavily.

She sighed and silently moved to sit beside him.

They both sat there for a while with cicadas chirping away around them.

The moment was broken with Alex mumbling something.

Carol narrowed her eyes, attempting to decipher what he said. "What did you say?" She asked gently.

Alex sighed and spoke up a little. "I said it's my fault."

Carol sat there for a second, stunned.

He shot a glance her way, then regained his previous position with his hands cradling his head as he stared at the grass below their feet. "I know what you're going to say, _'whatever do you mean Alex? It's not your fault Alex'_." He said in an odd voice as an attempt to mimic someone else. "It's just," He continued normally. "I could have done more." He groaned in frustration as he raked his hands through his hair, the odd finger getting caught in knotted blond strands. He lifted his head and gloomily stared into the distance. "I know how to survive out there, I've been trained for things like this. I-" He cut himself off and glanced to Carol in the corner of his eye.

She gave him a look of sympathy and nodded reassuringly. "I know what you mean, I could have done more too-" She began as Alex cut her off.

"That's just it!" Alex cried as he stood up sharply, the tiredness and frustration from the past few days which had worn down on him, caused him to finally snap. He spun on the spot to stare at her. "You don't understand. No-one here understands." He waved his hands around him as if to show her the members of their group milling around the farm. His raised voice caused a few of them to glance over towards them as their curiosity peeked.

She saw Rick and Shane set off in their direction with Glenn, Maggie and Lori trailing behind.

"I've seen things, I've done things that no one here would _ever_ believe. I can do so much more than you people know. I've put up with being treated like a kid because for once in my life no one is expecting anything from me. If it wasn't my Uncle, it was _them_ and if it wasn't them, then it was some insane maniac bent of taking over the world." He paused and let out a deranged laugh. By now the others had reached Carol and Alex. "Well good luck to them." He cried. "Because there really isn't anything worth taking over now!"

Rick approached him like he would a startled animal. "Hey Alex, you ok?"

Alex whipped around to stare at him. "There you go again!" He stepped closer to Rick, with a frenzied look in his eye. "I don't need to be mollycoddled! I'm not Carl." He poked Rick in the ribs. "I'm not Sophia." He turned to keep Carol in his sights. "I'm me, and you people don't even know who I am. Not really." He had stopped with the furious pacing and was just left looking exhausted, like all his energy was just stripped from him in one go.

Lori came over slowly, ignoring Rick's mumbled warning and held out a hand as she approached him. She gently grasped him by the elbow and spoke softly. "We're not trying to treat you like a kid Alex. Ok? We're just worried about you because you're our friend. We know you and Daryl have been working your asses off to try and find Sophia, but you're only human. You need food. Ok? You need rest. When did you last put your head down for an actual sleep, because no offence," she chuckled before she continued, "you look awful."

By now Alex's body had loosened up and he looked ready to drop. Carol came over to his other side, caught Lori's eye and shot her a concerned look. She shrugged her shoulders to express her unspoken question of _'what's just happened?'_. Carol shook her head minutely in response.

"I don't even know anymore, Jack would know. She'd send me up to bed so fast your head would spin." Alex mumbled quietly to himself, reminding the women of Lori's question.

"Well," said Carol, taking charge, "you can start by eating a proper meal and catching a good night's sleep." Seeing Alex about to protest, she steamrolled on. "You can join in with the search tomorrow morning, first thing."

"The sun will be setting soon anyway so we would have to turn back in an hour at any rate. Besides Daryl's out there now." Lori inputted.

"Yeah, and I'll be talking to him about getting a good meal too when he returns." Carol continued. "I can't thank you boys enough for what you've done for Sophia and me. But like I said, you need to look after yourselves too." She said with a soft smile. "We all need to look after each other."

o0o

Two hours later saw Carol and Lori sitting on the front porch steps, after making some dinner for everyone. They took the time to sit and gaze towards the distant woodland.

Lori was aware of Carol shooting her looks every now and then. Eventually she sighed and cocked her head to the side to shoot Carol a look. "What?" She asked.

"Hmmm." Carol innocently questioned.

Lori sent her a mock glare. "Don't think I haven't seen all the looks you've given me."

Carol mulled something over in her mind before putting Lori on the spot. She turned her body around to face the other woman. "Are you ok?"

A slightly surprised look filtered across Lori's face before she masked it. "What, because of Carl? I'm fine. He's fine. We're all … fine." She fumbled over her words as she muttered weakly, not expecting the blunt question asked by the other woman. Lori was in no way ready to share the news with anyone, not when Rick didn't know. She had no idea what she was going to do with the baby, let alone how to deal with the father, whoever the father was.

Carol stayed quiet for a moment before responding. "You just seem distracted, and I not talking about Carl or Sophia."

Lori looked up to meet her waiting gaze. "I'm fine, really." At Carol's raised eyebrows she repeated herself, stronger this time. "Carol, honestly. Everything's fine. Or at least it will be when we find Sophia." At Carol's morose slouch, Lori rubbed her friend's back reassuringly. "We _will_ find her."

Carol smiled, a flicker of hope was seen amongst the despair that littered her façade.

Suddenly a call sang through the grounds of the farm.

"Walker!"

It was Andrea standing on watch, positioned on the RV roof. Lori and Carol were too far away to hear the conversation between everyone but they saw a group break away from the RV to investigate.

Suddenly a shot rang out, followed by Rick's cry.

"No!"

It was Daryl. He'd been shot in the head by Andrea's overenthusiastic effort to show off her skills.

Something shot past everyone stood at the RV, as the blur ran towards their fallen comrade and the group gathered there.

Alex rushed to Daryl's side, shoving Shane out of the way as he helped Rick and Glenn carry the bloodied man towards the house whilst the others ran inside calling for Hershall.

o0o

Hershall announced that Daryl would be laid up in bed for his stomach and head injury for a while. The shot to his head looked worse than it was. Not that Daryl hadn't had a lucky escape. Something Shane heard Rick mention to Andrea after Daryl had been handed over the vet. He knew that after Amy's death, she was a loose cannon but this was a close call. Not that he really liked Daryl that much, but he couldn't deny that he was a help to the farm and brought another level of security which could keep Lori and Carl safe.

As he rounded the corner of the barn, he stopped suddenly when he heard raised voices. He ducked into a nearby stall as he came across the middle of a conversation.

"-Just be careful next time." Alex was saying. "Always ensure your target's identity before pulling the trigger. Always."

Shane frowned, that sounded like something a shooting instructor would say, like he'd been taught it professionally.

"But he looked like a walker." Andrea protested.

"Yeah, but what if it had been Sophia? She's been in the woods for a few days now, she going to be filthy. She might even be injured and moving sluggishly. Would you just shoot her?"

Andrea scoffed. "Of course not! I'd know if it was her, I'd recognise her."

Alex shook his head in disappointment. "Well by that reasoning, you shouldn't have shot Daryl."

Shane heard Andrea take a step closer to Alex. He peered his head around the corner to get a better look. "What do you know? Huh? You're just a kid with some weird hero complex who thinks he knows better than the adults. Have you even ever fired a gun before coming here?" She laughed tauntingly.

Shane couldn't see what Alex did next, but Andrea's laughter was cut off. "Hey!" She cried in outrage. "How did-. Give that back."

Shane strained his neck as far as he'd dare and caught a glimpse of Alex holding a gun and emptying the bullets out on the floor in a few slick movements. In the next second, he had tossed the weapon into a pile of straw in the corner and whipped the knife out, which was previously stashed securely in Andrea's belt, with the art of an accomplished pick-pocketer.

He stood there with a cold calculating look in his eye, the likes of which Shane hadn't seen before, and certainly hadn't expected to see on a teenage face such as Alex. He twirled the stolen knife in his hands, leading the blade through a merry dance between his fingertips.

He took a solitary stride towards Andrea causing her to take a stiff step back.

"You, have no idea what I am capable of." He said slowly. "I may be absolutely knackered, and feel like I'm ready to drop, but I could take you any day. Don't push me. I am at the end of my tether so back off." He looked at the knife in his hands. "Learn how to use this properly, same goes for the gun." He tossed it back to her so the handle ended up in her fumbling grip. "Don't go round shooting my friends again or I'll give you a lesson you'll never forget, Malagosto style."

He sauntered off, leaving a frozen Andrea behind. As he passed Shane's hiding place, who had shrunk to the back of the darkened stall leaving no trace, Alex murmured into the empty space. "Enjoy the show?" He chuckled tiredly to himself as he left the barn leaving two confused and slightly terrified adults in his wake.

* * *

 **Phew! Two chapters this quickly, my fingers wouldn't stop typing**

 **So as you can see, Alex kind of goes off the deep end here. He's been searching for Sophia non-stop since her disappearance, so we saw him go from an already sleep deprived, grumpy and tired teenager to a teenage super assassin trained spy within a few paragraphs. Carol and Lori did manage to get him to sleep for a bit, but Andrea rudely woke him up with the gun shot situation!**

 **As for the Malagosto reference slipped in there, you may remember this as the assassin school Scorpia sent him to during that little adventure!**

 **As ever, thanks for the reviews**

 **-Skendo**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Enigma That Is**

 _An Alex Rider and The Walking Dead crossover_

He is an enigma. As well as trying to survive the 'end of the world', the group spend time attempting to decipher one of their own. Alex Rider.

Snippets of moments with Alex and the Gang.

 _ **I do not own Alex Rider or The Walking Dead, those rights belong to Anthony Horowitz, AMC, Fox and the comic book creators Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore respectively. I make no money from this writing, I write this purely for my own enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others.**_

* * *

Chapter 9

Stupid. He was so stupid.

He let the exhaustion and stress of the last few days get to him. Big time.

He let his guard down, and his brain _conveniently_ forgot all his training _._ His sole purpose for being in this country, was to slink by unnoticed, watch from a distance and stay professional and compete the mission brief. But at the first sign of trouble what does he do? He allowed himself to get dragged into a group of misfits, by a 12 year old at that! They accepted him without question, not that he didn't hear as they discussed him behind his back – his skills weren't _that_ rusty! They allowed him to get close to their family, _their children_.

He had managed to keep his secret close to his chest, hide his true self away since he was 14 years old, yet somehow this mismatched group managed to unravel everything!

Things slipped through the gaps. The odd comment here, losing himself in the moment when hunting or fighting, and then of course, the issue of completely losing it, yelling at the people he had come to trust, care for and call friends.

For sure, he warned Shane off Lori not long ago, but threatening Andrea, which was probably the actions of grief and frustration, was just down right cruel!

Carol was trying to get through to him, Alex knew that she was missing Sophia like you would a limb. She was trying to care for him and Daryl, and whether it was as a distraction, the need to mother someone, or to show her gratitude Alex didn't know.

But he didn't want her thanks or pity, he felt guilt for not finding Sophia yet and he knew Daryl did too. He didn't know the older man's motivation or drive to search for the little girl. It may have been a subconscious decision to rectify the fact that they never found Merle, or it could just be that he was a nice guy who kept it hidden with a gruff exterior. Alex reckoned it was the latter. The guy got shot in the head, stabbed in the stomach and almost became walker gruel but _still_ kept going.

He knew Rick felt the pressure of the search too, seeing as he was the last person to see Sophia. But, Alex saw that he was distracted, Lori and Shane were too. He already knew the pair had something between them but from the looks Shane gave the married couple, Alex doubted if it was just a fling, from Shane's side anyway.

Alex lay on his back with one arm behind his head on the sleeping roll in his snug tent. The moonlight shone in through a small gap between the tent flaps. A feeling of peace surrounded him as his frantic thoughts began to fade and sleep once again consumed him.

o0o

Outside the safety of their little camp, Glenn had stumbled across the horror which lay in the barn. As Maggie desperately tried to reason with him, the weary camp slept on, unaware of the terror which stood clawing at the rickety wooden doors a few fields away.

o0o

The next morning found Daryl lounging in peaceful solitude, under Doctor's orders of course. If he had his way, he'd be out searching for Sophia. He felt he was so close to a break though yesterday, if only that stupid horse hadn't freaked out, he could have covered more ground. _Nervous Nellie._ He scoffed out loud as he fidgeted on his sleeping bag. Of course getting shot in the head didn't help. But he couldn't fault Andrea for trying to protect the group, he just wished she'd learn to aim properly.

From outside the thin material of the tent, he heard the group beginning to wake up.

"Morning Alex!" He heard Carl chirp.

"Hey." Alex quietly returned the sentiment with a mumble.

Daryl frowned, he had been told about _the incident_ involving Alex's meltdown. Carol put it down to tiredness, but Daryl wasn't sure. There had always been something odd about the boy. Something lurked in his past, which maybe caused his strange behaviour. He liked the kid, he really did. Alex was one of the few members of the group that Daryl didn't mind being around. They never spoke about personal things, never breached that mutually, unspoken, agreed line. On the good days he was a laugh to be around, had successful hunts and looked out for each other. But on the bad days though, the times when the kid was fidgety, quick to draw the gun, _or any weapon for that matter_ , at the slightest sound, the way he could move without being seen, and the fighting. Daryl had heard a few different accounts from various members of the group, of how Alex dealt with an onslaught of walkers. The moves, the strikes, the final blow. The kid's been trained how to fight, maybe even to kill. Daryl wasn't stupid. He knew he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, but he had been around fights; drunken bar brawls, back alley clashes and sharks claiming their debts. He knew the difference between learning on the spot with adrenaline, which most of the camp mates were surviving by, and a professionally trained fighter.

Daryl sighed and rubbed his forehead as he stared up at the bleak ceiling, the smell of breakfast beginning to seep in through the open tent flaps. Who knew what the deal was with Alex, but he's a good kid, Daryl knew that much.

He suddenly jumped as the sun was blocked by a shadowed figure at the doorway.

 _Speak of the devil._

Alex hovered at the threshold of the tent for a minute as if to ask permission to invade the small space.

"Morning." Daryl drawled, channelling his inner Merle.

Alex just sighed forlornly as he swept in to the tent and flopped down on to the floor with one arm covering his eyes.

Daryl sent a smirk in the kid's direction at the overly dramatic actions of the Brit.

"I can feel your grin burning into my very soul." Came the smothered snarky response.

Daryl just shook his head at the antics of the boy. "Well don't act so damn dramatic then."

Alex huffed as he removed his arm and stared up at the ceiling. "I did a stupid thing."

Daryl hummed in acknowledgement. "So I heard."

"I just, I don't know." He groaned and grabbed his hair in frustration. "It's so annoying!"

Daryl turned his head towards Alex and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Alex stayed silent and rubbed his face roughly with both hands. For once his face was like an open book, which showed his young age as he tried to decide what to say. He opened his mouth as if to start talking but clammed up before he even began.

"Is it the kid?" Daryl prodded to try and get the ball rolling. "Sophia? Cos we've done more than anyone to try and find that little girl. So don't feel guilty."

Alex sat up and lightly smacked the palm of his hands on the tent floor. "That's it though! She shouldn't have gone missing in the first place!"

"Why?" Daryl shot back. "It's not your job to keep everyone safe."

Alex looked down at his shoes. "Yeah but I should have kept an eye on her."

"She's not your kid." Daryl reminded him gently.

Alex pulled a face and sent him a look. "Well obviously. That doesn't mean I don't care for her." He hesitated before continuing. "I don't have any siblings, but these past few months Carl and Sophia have sort of grown on me. I guess they've kind of become a little brother and sister. Sort of."

He sighed and shook his head. "I just don't know what to do, or say or think anymore."

Daryl stretched his arms up above his head, hearing the bones crack and sockets pop. He winced as he felt the stitches in his side pull. "What do you mean, you don't know what to say?" He asked. "You're not hiding some big secret, right?" He said jokingly, whilst curiosity tugged at his mind.

Alex smiled and gave him a strange look. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He said in a mock mysterious tone.

Daryl grabbed up some rolled up socks from next to his sleeping bag and lobbed them at Alex's head. In that moment he didn't care if he had torn his stitches that Hershall had fixed him up with, because the look on Alex's face was worth it.

"Hey." Alex cried as his reflexes kicked in, and knocked them out of the way before they reached their target. "That better not be an old pair of undies!"

"Undies?" Daryl mocked with a scoff. "What are you, 8?"

Alex stuck his tongue out in retaliation. "Maybe." He said childishly.

Daryl just rolled in eyes and pointedly stared up at the ceiling.

Movement in the doorway interrupted their little dispute and Andrea walked in to the tent, hesitantly casting Alex a nervous look.

Alex heaved himself up from the floor with a sigh. "Well, I'm off. Things to do, people to see."

He nodded to Andrea as he walked out of the tent.

"Hey!" Daryl's shout caused him to pause in the doorway. "Don't cause trouble."

Alex sent him a feral grin. "Wouldn't dream of it." He said before disappearing into the bright morning sun that was creeping around the corner of the tent flap.

Daryl pointed his focus on to the woman who nervously stood in the tent, her hands kept fidgeting around their hold on a book in her grasp. He decided to let her stew, waiting for her to make the first move.

After an awkward silence, Andrea took a breath before she turned to Daryl and tossed him a book.

"This isn't that great, but-" She trailed off as Daryl read the cover 'The Case of the Missing Man' book which had fallen into Daryl's lap.

He skimmed through the pages. "What, no pictures?"

Andrea smiled and sent an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry, I feel like shit."

Daryl grunted in response and looked up at her. "Yeah, you and me both."

"Look, I don't expect you to forgive me, but if there's anything I can do-" She said earnestly.

Daryl shook his head and waved a hand in her direction to cut her off. "You were protecting the group. I'm good."

Andrea smiled and nodded in relief, her shoulders slumped like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She moved as if going to take a step towards the doorway before hesitating. Daryl lifted an eyebrow as he waiting to see what else she wanted.

"You know Alex." She began hesitantly.

"I may have seen the runt around from time to time, sure." He drawled.

She huffed and shot him a glare. "That's not what I-." She composed herself and began again. "After I sort of _shot you_." She hurriedly said awkwardly. "Alex came to see me in one of the barns."

Daryl sat up slightly in interest from where he was laid up on the camp bed.

She continued, "I was in there trying to calm down. I didn't know if you were okay, and everyone was avoiding me so I needed some space, and he found me there. He basically confronted me about shooting you and said some stuff."

Daryl huffed out a laugh. "Well he kind of had a point."

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously. But in the moment, I was so wound up and mad and embarrassed that I sort of yelled at him and he threatened me." She paused to see Daryl looking slightly dubious from her accusation. "He managed to somehow grab my gun, empty the bullets and get my knife which he threw into the straw. Which, by the way, took _ages_ to find!" She finished with a whine.

Daryl sighed, it seemed that Alex didn't tell him everything that happened last night. "Look, I heard about his melt down with Carol and Lori. It sounds like he was just tired and worried about Sophia. As for the way he spoke to you, and I don't wanna sound vain, but he was probably just shaken up about what happened to me."

Andrea rubbed her eyes. "That's a lot of 'probablys and 'maybes' Daryl."

He shrugged. "That's the best I can do. Just give him space today, he's not a threat to you despite what he said."

"But how do you know?" She asked.

"Cos he's a good kid." He said.

There was a moment of silence whilst they both processed the thoughts flying through their heads.

After a while she nodded to herself as she seemed to come to a conclusion. "Sorry again for the whole shoot you thing." She smiled weakly.

As she turned to walk out of the tent, Daryl's shout called her attention back.

"Hey! Shoot me again, best prey I'm dead." He called out with a smirk.

She grinned before continuing her trek.


End file.
